Description

John Lessels, designed 1864, built 1868. 4-storey and basement tenement with classical details; 3-bay return to Manor Place; splayed pilastered corner, 5-bay return to Palmerston Place. Basement area to street including some vaulted cellars and retaining walls. Sandstone ashlar; droved at basement. Cast-iron balconies at all 1st floor windows.

S (COATES PLACE) ELEVATION: entrance platts oversailing basements. Banded base course; banded cill course at 1st floor, moulded string course between windows. Cornice at 2nd floor with plain frieze; corniced eaves course. Corniced and consoled round arched doorpieces, plain fanlights. Moulded architraved windows at ground and 1st floors, tripartite windows to splayed corner to E, corniced and pedimented at 1st floor. Segmental arched windows at 2nd floor with bracketed cills.

E (MANOR PLACE) ELEVATION: 3-bay, 4-storey pilastered tenement block. Pilasters spanning 1st and 2nd floors to terminal bays, with large fielded panels; cornice over with plain frieze. Round arched doorway at ground floor to centre with narrow sidelights and plain fanlight. Moulded architraved surrounds at ground floor, triangular pediment to centre, corniced to sides. Segmental arched surrounds at 2nd floor with bracketed cills.

W (PALMERSTON PLACE) ELEVATION: 4-storey and basement 5-bay classical townhouse (partially converted to bank premises early 20th century now shop premises, 2008). Slightly advanced pilastered flanking bays. Entrance platt leading to former corner entrance, round arched doorway converted to window, with armourial panel over. 2 paired pilasters spanning 1st and 2nd floors to flanking bays. Cornice at 2nd floor with plain frieze. Pedimented window to centre at 1st floor, flanking windows corniced all with scroll motif cast-iron balconies. Segmental arched surrounds at 2nd floor with advanced bracketed cills and small cast-iron balconies. Shallow stepped parapet.

Plate glass in timber sash and case windows. Circa 1930s multipane metal windows with classical motifs at ground floor to Palmerston Place elevation (fronting former bank premises). Double pitch M-section roof. Corniced ashlar ridge and gable end stacks with modern clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

Statement of Interest

Coates Place is a large tenemented terrace with good classical details. The terrace is an important component of the streetscape lining the main approach road into central Edinburgh from the W. The ends of the terrace articulate corners with major streets at Palmerston Place and Manor Place. The differing designs of the corner blocks reflects the architecture of the streets which they terminate in Manor Place and Palmerston Place, with each corner block designed to correspond to its setting on the two streets.

John Lessels (1809 - 1883) was engaged in a number of urban design schemes throughout his career, and worked on other parts of the Walker Estate, notably at Coates Crescent and Melville crescent. He later went on to work for the City Improvement Trust in Edinburgh, and gained a wide experience of residential design with further designs in both the old and new towns of Edinburgh as well as some large commissions such as significant alterations to George Watson's Hospital.

The Palmerston Place corner block was converted into a bank during the early 20th century and later became retail premises and a bar. The ground floor to Coates Place is now predominantly office space (2008).

(Category changed from B to C(S) and list description revised 2009 as part of resurvey)

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56631846

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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